New Castle, NH Fire Department and York Village Fire have a great working relationship, and this fire proved it. New Castle FD was dispatched to a report of an extinguished fire in a basement of a large, three unit converted condo building. There were reports of still smoke in the basement upon arrival. A 1st Alarm was struck and Truck 8 was dispatched to the New Castle fire station for station coverage. A short time later, New Castle and Portsmouth fire crews determined the fire was in the walls and had traveled throughout the 1800s home into the attic space. A 2nd Alarm was struck and Truck 8 was diverted directly to the scene.
Shortly after Truck 8 arrived, crews were ordered out of the building and the fire had extended through the roof. Truck 8 dropped a feeder and positioned into the rear of the building via a narrow driveway. Due to one broken hydrant and several that did not have sufficient water, tankers were called into the scene to provide a secondary water supply. Truck 8 and crew set up defensive operations with the ladder pipe and several hand lines. York Beach Fire also responded with Engine 5 to supply water. The SMART Truck was requested for rehab, and later on in the morning we sent Tank 4 to assist with the tanker shuttle.
Freezing temperatures made it difficult to fight this fire. Firefighters’ gear became frozen and once the fire was out, all of the hose lines had to be loaded into pick up trucks and thawed out at the station.
We enjoy working with New Castle Fire Department and all of the surrounding agencies. They were presented with a challenging situation and stepped up and got the job done.
